Friday, February 02, 2007

Grinding Away

I have a problem and it's getting worse.

I'm an incessant habitual tooth grinder. I grind, grind, grind, mostly during my sleep, and I've worn away the enamel of my teeth. I'm now working on grinding away the one filling I have and this morning, on my biannual trip to the dentist, was informed if I don't do something about it I will have to have a root canal in the filled tooth. This is the second filling in the same tooth because I ground away the first one a few years ago.

Ummm...no thank you, I'll pass on the root canal.

Many years ago I tried one of those nighttime mouth guards available at any decent drug store. It sucked. I stuck the enormous plastic gadget in my mouth and immediately felt like I had stuffed my mouth full of ping pong balls. I tasted terrible and I woke up in a puddle of drool. The next morning, as I squeegeed the drool from my face and tossed my pillow into the washer, I decided I'd rather grind the night away than drool like a rabid dog.

So, Ms. Dentist tells me they can fit me for a custom mouth guard, one that fits neatly between the front teeth and keeps my molars from doing the tango all night long. She didn't promise there would be no drooling, though, so I'm not quite sold. However, this handy dandy little grinder preventer will cost $250, and insurance doesn't cover a single damn cent. Spend the money and keep my teeth from becoming painful little nubs, or just wait and invest in dentures a few years down the line? Decisions, decisions! Of course, hubby had to make an off-color wise crack about having a wife without teeth and the obvious benefits that comes with toothlessness...the pervert.

I don't know why I grind. Most of the time I'm not even aware of the grinding unless I wake up with a killer headache and a sore jaw. Stress? Comfort? Habit? Who knows.

Maybe I should just smear Vaseline all over my teeth before I go to bed and provide a little slippery lube to the little buggers. That will teach 'em!

1 comment:

KPB said...

Hello fellow grinder! I too grind. I have a mouthguard. I grind so hard I have chipped the back corner off it. I have just managed to grind so hard I've chipped my back right bottom molar fair in half.
The mouthguard does work in that it releases the ligament pain from griding and clenching.
And yes, they're exxy.